During last week’s Sherburne Commissioners’ meeting, ARPA requests were a big theme of the day. The commissioners also heard from a Big Lake business owner during open forum, listened to a legislative update from MICA, and held ditch and rail authority meetings.

Open Forum 

Sarah Hoffel (Reporter’s Note: Spelling of name is uncertain.) spoke during open forum. She and her husband recently purchased Big Lake Auto. According to Hoffel, before purchasing, the couple asked the county whether they needed an IUP and was told they did not. However, after the purchase they were told they did need one. The board assured her someone would be in touch. 

MICA Update

Matt Mossman of the Minnesota Inter-County Association (MICA) gave an update to the board regarding the recent legislative session.The legislation recently passed a two year, $52 billion budget, part of the funding for which came from the state’s $1.7 billion budget surplus and $2.8 billion of ARP funds. Business taxes were cut by $20 million per year. Mossman anticipated the legislature would go to a special session in September to consider a small bonding bill, which is not an uncommon situation. 

Mossman’s colleagues gave presentations regarding legislation including in the areas of transportation, health and human services, and public safety. The full presentation is available on the county’s YouTube channel.

HHS ARPA Requests

The Health and Human Services department asked the board to set aside $100,000 of ARPA (The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021) funding towards establishing an emergency assistance program. This would assist county families experiencing economic hardship caused by the pandemic, and would extend through December, 2024. Similar programs are offered at the state level, but county staff, in assisting county residents applying for these programs, found that they are being overloaded right now, and it is severely limiting the amount of help people can get from these programs. Furthermore, it helps those landlords who would otherwise be waiting for an indeterminable amount of time for the programs to kick in and to receive overdue rent payments.

HHS also asked to use ARPA funding to pay for Zoom licenses for staff. It was expected that other departments will make a similar request.

Next, HHS requested a mental health professional be hired to help individuals before they reach the point of wanting to self-harm. It can be very costly to the county to treat or hospitalize people who experience mental health issues, and the new staff member is expected to save the county a fair amount in the long run.

Finally, HHS made two final requests in regards to foster children. They asked to use ARPA funding to recoup costs associated with delayed court cases, as well as to hire a mental health professional specializing in children’s needs.

The commissioners approved all of these requests, though a couple cautioned about being careful in setting up these programs, since ARPA funding will not be around forever and it will be on the county’s taxpayers to fund these programs after that point.

Mental Health 

The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) made a similar request of the board, wanting to hire a mental health professional at the jail. The SCSO reported that last year, though the jail had about half the inmates as opposed to 2019, it saw double the number of mental health issues. The commissioners agreed a new staff member could significantly help the situation.

The SCSO also asked to use ARPA funding to replace outdated technology.

Ditch Authority

The commissioners recessed the regular meeting to open the ditch authority meeting. The ditch authority is taking advantage of the drought to do maintenance on equipment that is not normally dry, such as culverts. The commissioners went to approve the 2021 drainage assessments at $45,450. 

Rail Authority

Next, the commissioners opened the rail authority meeting. They looked at the 2022-2026 master funding agreement for the North Star Commuter Rail. Anoka county decided to no longer be a part of this agreement, which transfers their share of the cost to the other participating counties. Staff wanted to make a few changes to the agreement before officially asking the board to accept it. 

Commissioner Felix Schmiesing asked his fellow commissioners to have a frank discussion about the North Star. They have lost partners in this endeavor, and he was concerned about the number of people utilizing the service and the amount of money the county is spending on the service. Commissioner Raeanne Danielowski replied that it was hard to determine the need for the service when the metro area has yet to really bring their employees back into the workplace. Commissioner Lisa Fobbe, sensing there was a lot to be discussed regarding the issue, suggested holding a workshop on the topic at a later time. They also hoped to speak with the commissioners in their partner counties about the future of the North Star. There is plenty of time for both, as the agreement doesn’t go into effect until January 2022.